Attack of Mecha Knuckles
by Miles Prower
Summary: Tails' POV. Tails waked up in a hospital bed after an attack from a robotic knuckles. But little does he know this will lead to something far more serious....


Disclaimer: The characters Sonic, Tails, Knuckles and Dr Robotnik are property of Sega. Sally, Bunny and Rotor belong to Archie comics. The storyline here belongs to me. Not you. And don't even think about 1 - altering it , 2 - copying it and saying it's yours or 3 - copying it and trying to sell it. If you want to do number 3 contact me so we can discuss my cut. If you don't want to give me a cut then that's fine, I'll see you in court. If you don't like the way I spell words like colour (That's color to Americans) I won't be taking any notice because I'm British. And if you read up to here while standing on one leg you hereby agree to hop on that leg ten times before progressing any farther. Now read.  
  
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I woke up in a bed. I opened my eyes. I expected to wake up my bed in my hut but I didn't. I woke up in Knothole's medical ward. That was when everything that happened to me the previous day came flooding back.  
  
It was any normal day for me. I got up early that day because the weather was lovely. I loved the effect the recently risen sun had on the Great Forest, and what I loved just as much, was breathing in the fresh morning air. At this time the near silence was nearly as beautiful as the rising sun. The only things that could be heard were the occasional chirp of birds and the rustles of branches and leaves. Aunt Sally didn't mind me going out at these times because it was always safe at this time of morning. Aunt Sally was always overprotective of me, but deep down I knew it was because she cared about me. Sonic and all of the other freedom fighters were in bed, but this was too good a morning to pass buy. I could smell the fragrant flowers, go and chase some butterflies or practice my flying weaving in and out of trees. Whenever I went on these outings I always got back to Knothole to have some breakfast at the same time as everyone else.  
  
That morning I decided to go out and pick some flowers to put in a pot and give to Aunt Sally. I had got out of bed at 6:00 am, the same time I usually do when I go on these outings. Sonic always told me that he wondered how I was capable of getting up at this time. He always stayed in bed for as long as he could. Getting him up is always near impossible! I would be to set off as fifteen minutes after waking up and I would come back at 9:30 am to have breakfast after trying my best to get Sonic up!  
  
After climbing out of bed I got out my gloves and running shoes out from under my bed. I then dug out my backpack. It contained basic survival needs like a multi-purpose knife, small first aid kit and a water flask. Before trips, I always refilled the flask with water from a fresh water stream just inside the Great Forest. Nobody has ever had any idea where the stream starts at, or when it finishes, but it didn't matter as long as it supplied everyone with plenty of fresh water. I buckled the strap on my shoes and I set off on my trip. I walked through Knothole and nobody was awake. It was very quiet. I made my way over to the lift that takes everyone up into the Great Forest. I was then lifted into the great forest.  
  
The sheer beauty of the Great Forest struck me this time. I went on these early morning outings on average about once a week, but never before had I been in such awe at it's natural splendour. Geologically, it was not much different than usual but at the same time it was so much different. The way the rays of golden sunshine shone through the high trees to light the ground, and once again I breathed in the fresh morning air. I walked through the Great Forest for a few minutes when I then came to the fresh water stream. I got my flask out of my backpack. I emptied out the warm leftover water from a camping trip with Sonic back into the stream to let it flow away. I then let my flask fill with some of the fresh water from the stream. I also took a glove off and put some water into a cupped hand and took a few drinks of the water. It was refreshing. I then put my glove back on and carried on into the forest.  
  
About three and a half hours had now passed. I had picked the flowers I wanted to give to Aunt Sally and I was ready to start making my way back. I had a nice time, as I usually do. I noticed that the sun had risen quite a lot since dawn. I twirled my tails around and started flying to make my way back to Knothole for breakfast. I was weaving in and out of trees at a quick speed. I checked my watch. It was almost 9:30 already! I set off at the usual time and I was travelling at the usual pace. I looked around. Everything was different. I recognised this as the lush centre of the Great Forest. I had never been here before. I had only heard about this place from books I read. It was vastly different from the outskirts of the Great Forest. The temperature was warmer than in most places. There were a lot of different specimens of trees that I had never seen before. There were also a lot of strong looking, tick vines all around the trees. Not a lot of sunlight touched the ground because of the dense roof of tree covering. It was then that I realised what I had done. I was lost.  
  
I looked around to see if there were any traces of the way I travelled. But unfortunately, there was no chance of footprints because I was flying all the way. It then felt like my stomach was tied in knots. I was frightened. People who were lost in the depths of the Great Forest were usually not found for days, if at all. I walked along, looking for anything like deliberately made clearings to act as paths. After looking around for about half an hour I decided to take a rest. I then took of my backpack and dug around for my compass. Nothing. I kept on looking to see if it was left at the bottom. Then I remembered. I was sorting out my survival kit the previous night. While going through all of my needs I must have misplaced my compass! To think I could be that careless! I pounded the ground in frustration. Now I was beginning to think about what could happen to me. All of the freedom fighters would be worried sick about me. Especially Aunt Sally, it's bad enough when I want to go out on a mission when I'm with Sonic all the time, never mind being lost. I knew that if I couldn't get back they'd sent a search party to look for me, but what if they couldn't find me? I've heard so many stories in survival books about people who get lost in the Great Forest and it isn't always a happy ending.  
  
I was beginning to get very scared now. Food was scarce in the Great Forest, and I hadn't ate breakfast. All I had was a flask full of water. Not enough to last me for up to three days, which is the amount of time a lot of people lost in the Great Forest stay there for, often longer. I was in trouble and I knew it. The only thing now that I could do is walk around and try to find my way back to Knothole. That is easier said than done. But I had to do this before I ran out of energy and be too weak to go any farther. I couldn't fly either, because this was more strenuous than walking. So now I set off, not sure which way I was going. But what else could I do? Wait here and starve or get attacked by a predatory animal? I didn't want to think about what might happen to me so I just ignored it and carried on walking.  
  
I walked for over six hours. The pain of all the muscles in my legs was agonising. Sometimes out of frustration and desperation I cried out at the top of my voice "Somebody help me!". I was so tired. I hardly took any rests in my long journey. Yet I found nothing. It seemed like I was walking around in circles. Eventually, this all got too much for me. My legs were trembling. I couldn't walk any longer. My legs gave way and I collapsed under a tree. I couldn't go on any longer. I just slumped under tree, breathless. I didn't know what I could possibly do. I was helpless. Tears began to stream down my cheeks. I was crying. This was all to much for me. I was lost in the middle of nowhere, I didn't know if I was even going the right way and there wasn't even any certainty I would get back to Knothole. But I was crying. Despite nobody being with me I felt shame. I felt I had to get a grip of myself. What would Sonic think? "But who cares?" I thought. "It's not as if I'll see him again anyway". I soon felt very uneasy about thinking that. I was always usually optimistic. I was always the one who cheered people up. But here I was slumped against a tree, crying and thinking I was going to die. Despite being in such a sorry state I couldn't give up hope. Sonic wouldn't want me to.  
  
I decided to try and progress farther after a rest. I lied down. I was staring at the roof of leaves in the forest. deep in thought. I was not thinking about anything in particular. After a couple of minutes of lying down I fell asleep. I didn't realise I was that tired, to sleep on a hard forest floor. It wasn't a deep sleep I was in. I was turning and moving a lot in my sleep and I woke up in about three quarters of an hour. "I can't believe I fell asleep" I said to myself. After sleeping on the hard forest floor it was now my back that ached along with the rest of my tired body. I rubbed my eyes and got back to my feet. I hardly felt any better from my short nap. My feet and legs were still aching nearly just as badly as when I collapsed. I looked around for any clues to where I might next go. Not knowing what to do I walked over to a clearing. It was quite a large circular clearing, with short grass in the middle and tall trees all around it. Something told me that this looked unnatural. I looked around for any more clues where to go. Nothing. That was until I heard something. My sensitive hearing picked up a rustling sound in a distant tree. I looked over to see a very tall tree behind the trees that circled the clearing. I looked up at a thick middle branch....  
  
I saw a figure. It looked very tall and muscular animal with red dreadlocks and barbs on his large fists. He looked very strong and his muscles looked like they would be the work of long and hard training. There was only one person who this could be. Knuckles. Relief swept over me. If Knuckles was around then so would the rest of the freedom fighters. Knuckles wasn't facing me and hadn't spotted me yet. It seemed he was on the lookout. He must have been with the search party looking for me. However, I was surprised it was Knuckles looking with the search party. He's hardly ever off the Floating Island. But I just ignored that fact. I called at the top of my voice. "KNUCKLES!" I cried. He heard me. I was relieved when I saw him turn his head towards me. But not for long.  
  
I looked directly at Knuckles and he looked at me. I saw a red glow in his eyes. I then looked at his fur. All I saw was cold, hard metal armour. I then knew that it wasn't Knuckles at all, it was a robot. Just looking at the mechanical monster terrified me. What was I supposed to do now? Here I was , lost in the middle of the Great Forest, tired and weak, facing an immensely strong mechanical robot. I saw the robot stand up straight. I then saw him jump of the tall tree. He spread his large body out and started to glide towards me, fists aiming towards me. He shouted at me in a cold, emotionless voice "Come to me, you annoying little brat!" I turned around and started to run as it was gliding towards me, using my tails to propel myself as fast as I possibly could. I was aiming to leave the clearing so I could try and lose him, because he wouldn't be able to glide at me with all the trees as obstacles.  
  
I had a problem now. The clearing was very large and I couldn't run out of it in time. The robot Knuckles caught up with me right near the end. However, his fists didn't hit me at full force, luckily. He grabbed me from behind at the end of his glide, pulling me to the ground. He then stood up, having captured me. He had me picked up from behind holding my arms in place. I was squirming as much as I could. But it was futile. Only one of his arms was probably over three times as strong as both of mine put together. My arms were also held alongside me, so they were out of use when in the robot's grasp. "SONIC HELP!" I screamed. As I was trying to squirm my way free the robot sneered at me in it's cold voice "That pathetic blue hedgehog can't save you, nobody is here. And even if he was here he couldn't handle me".  
  
I was still squirming just as much as I always was. Now I started kicking the robot in the shin while shouting "Let me go you rusty piece of scrap metal!" This didn't hurt the robot in the slightest bit but it made it very angry at me. It then squeezed me in it's grip. It was now holding me tight in a bear hug. This was giving me a lot of trouble breathing. I was gasping for air to try and catch my breath. It soon surprised me. The mechanical Knuckles threw me far into a thick tree at the edge of the clearing. I landed into the tree with a loud thump and the trunk hit me in the back of the head and between the shoulder blades. The pain made me scream louder than I ever have done before. I stood up, dizzy at the impact of the throw. After a few seconds I could look straight, only to see the robot's huge fist flying towards me at incredible speed. I tried moving backwards and ducking the punch at the same time. The full impact of the punch didn't catch me, which was a relief. The robot's bard on it's fist did, however. It made a large, deep cut above my eye. It made more of a stinging pain than my previous blow, but it was far more servere than any stinging pain I had before.  
  
I fell onto my backside, looking up at the hulking metal brute. It looked down on me, with it's hard red eyes, glowing with hatred and it's metal gleam, which shined in my eyes. I did not have a clue what it would do next. I looked behind the robot, looking for a possible escape. I saw an opening in the clearing behind the robot, but coming towards me with immense speed I saw a lightning fast blue blur. There was only one possible explanation for this. Sonic. I was overwhelmed with relief. Help was coming. As Sonic was running he shouted "Don't worry big guy, I'm coming!" "Sonic!" I cried. The robotic Knuckles turned quickly around to face Sonic. But the second it faced Sonic he was charging at him at a speed which would match that of him holding a power ring. He then jumped straight at the robot, curling up in a ball in mid air and landing into it's chest with a force I had never seen before. It caused the robot to fall to the ground and onto it's back. I then looked up at Sonic, with tears in my eyes. His look was surprising. His eyes were fixed on the robot, with a look at rage and hatred in them. The robot then slowly got up to it's feet and stood to look at Sonic. Sonic was breathing very heavily, looking at the massive dent he made in the mechanical Knuckles' chest, rage still burning. The robot's red eyes were flashing, as if it was breaking down.  
  
Then, at a high speed, the robot charged at Sonic, using it's shoulder to barge into him and knock him to the ground. The robot then kneeled down on Sonic, one knee on his chest using it's hands to pin down the arms of Sonic. I then felt I couldn't just sit there and let anything happen to Sonic. I got to my feet, still feeling quite dizzy from the beating I took. I saw the robot take it's right hand off Sonic's arm, ready to deliver a massive punch, which would render him unconscious easily, and cause a servere injury. I then screamed "NO!" as I ran at the robot. I grabbed onto the robot's risen arm and started tugging on it, while shouting "I won't let you hurt Sonic!" The robot then shook it's strong right arm and flung me off, landing on my back in the dirt. I then rushed to my feet. But the metal Knuckles pulled a fist back, and before I had the chance to avoid the blow, punched me in middle of the chest with extreme force. I was knocked off my feet several metres and landed against a tree once again with a thump. I was then seeing strange colours distort the view in front of me. A couple of seconds later I blacked out completely.  
  
All of these events that seemed like they were taking forever came flooding back to me in almost an instant as I lay down in my hospital bed, weak and injured.  
  
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So what do you all think? I'll be working on Chapter 2 soon.  



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